My teeth clattered so violently I couldn't control them. It was cold tonight, just like yesterday and the day before.
My butt cheeks would probably be stiff and frostbitten by the time I stood up from this bench, which would be painful. I tap my phone, almost cursing when I look at the time, my Uber is running late.
The playground ahead of me was dead, the chains holding up the swings were glazed with ice, snow piled on their seats, and the slides too. There was no one, and the ground was blanketed with pristine white. I mean, who in their right mind would come to a deadly playground like this four days before Christmas?
My phone pinged with a notification, and a crude curse strung past my clattering lips as I saw an unmistakable glow of disappointment — Driver Cancelled.
"What the hell?" I muttered, tapping almost viciously at my phone to check if I could get another ride.
None.
"Come on, you've got to be kidding me!" I groaned. This was the third ride that was cancelled in the past hour.
It was hard to find a ride because of the heavy snow, definitely not because I was out of town, an hour away in an unfamiliar countryside and Christmas shopping was apparently still a priority for some people. I came all the way here, way out of the suburbs, to pick up the laptop I bought off the Facebook marketplace. I should've waited till tomorrow as the person had suggested but I had gotten too excited.
I shoved my phone into my coat pocket and stood, my legs protesting. I had to get home somehow now. The main road wasn't far, and I could see headlights occasionally blurring past through the park gates.
I hate hitchhiking. It made me feel like a desperate idiot, standing there with my thumb out like some damsel in distress. But I was out of options.
I picked up my pace as I walked off, boots crunching at the layer of thin snow on the path, reminding me of when I used to eat snow like my life depended on it because my mother basically used to starve me, then one day I accidentally ate a shard of glass and almost died.
Yeah, tough times.
I finally made it past the gates and got to the road. Far ahead, I could spot Christmas lights from distant houses barely visible through the bare trees.
Cold, dry air whipped around, sending my black hair flying across my face.
"What have you gotten yourself into Chloe?" I scolded myself, hesitating before sticking out my thumb.
A car approached — a sedan, maybe? — and slowed slightly. My heart lifted for a second, but then it sped up and passed.
I gritted my teeth and tried again, but the next car also drove past. Then another. And another.
"Seriously?" I watched the tail lights of the fourth car disappear around the bend.
For the past 5 minutes, no one drove by, and it suddenly got quiet except for the constant howling of wind in the distance.
It was just the wind, right?
I mean, of course it was. What else could be howling out here in the middle of nowhere?
Not a dog—dogs bark, and they're usually friendly, and they walk around with their owners. So there's a seventy percent chance that even if a dog was howling, its owner would be nearby. Unless the owner was the dangerous one who could drag me into the woods and chop me into bite-sized pieces just for fun—
"Stop overthinking, Chloe," I chastise myself as I quietly take a look around me just to be sure.
But the howling was really there, and this time, I was certain it wasn't just wind. It sounded like a wounded animal. But not a dog. It sounded bigger than that. More guttural.
Before I could start overthinking the whole situation again and probably scare myself to death, the shine of a headlight approaching caught my eye. I immediately stuck out my thumb to the road and shook my arm for extra effect.
The car wasn't driving fast. It was slow and deliberate, like they had nowhere to be. The vehicle itself had this shiny and glossy black paint that screamed expensive. It almost made me embarrassed about trying to hitchhike, but I couldn't risk letting it drive by, not when I was already hearing things. I'd hate to make the newspaper the next morning — if I were ever found.
The car approached steadily, heavily tinted windows concealing whoever was inside. For a moment, I thought I was finally going to get that ride.
But the car didn't even pause.
I blinked.
"Are you serious right now?" I blurted out. "You're just going to drive past?" I added, but they were already driving towards the bend.
My frustration boiled over. Without thinking, I wound up and kicked at the snow bank beside me wanting to send a spray of powder after that stupid, shiny car out of spite. But my foot connected with something solid beneath the snow.
Too late to stop it.
The sound was unmistakable, sharp, and final. Crack.
The sound echoed through the quiet night, and the shiny car's brake lights flared red.
My head mechanically dropped down in horror at the disturbed snow. A small circular depression marked where the rock I'd just launched had been. My stomach dropped.
The reverse lights came on.
"Oh no." I stepped back. "No, no, no. Stay there!" I threw my arms out as if I could magically stop the car from reversing.
But the car backed up in that slow, deliberate manner until it stopped directly in front of me.
My heart was pounding inside me, and my thoughts had gone haywire already.
What do I do?
I could run back into the park and hide under one of the playground equipment. But I couldn't run that far when I'm the only target, and even if I did, my footsteps on the snow would give me away.
Besides, I'd already done the damage. Running would only make things worse.
The driver's door opened and I stumbled back as a man stepped out.
God damn, he's tall.
He looked like he'd just left a business meeting. Dress pants and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. Maybe that's why he'd been driving so slowly—exhausted from work?
He closed the door with a heavy thud that echoed between us. He lifted one hand to push up a pair of rectangle rimless glasses up the bridge of his nose, and would probably use the other to squeeze my throat but that doesn't happen, and for the record, he doesn't look angry.
At least, that's what I think. He looks a bit more tired.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to—" I started but the words died when he simply walked to the back of the car, examining the spider-web crack that was forming at the rear window.
It was bad, really bad. I had a clear view of the damage while he was reversing.
"I didn't mean to damage your car, mister," I confessed while he just stared at the window like he couldn't care less. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't trying to — I was just kicking the snow, and then the rock just flew out, and it just — I can't apologise enough, really. I'll pay for the damage—"
"Of course you will." The man spoke for the first time, cutting me off while still examining the damage.
"I will? I mean, yes! O-of course I will." I stammered.
Well, I technically don't have insurance. But my aunt does.
Yes, the one I haven't spoken to in two years.
Will I have to call her for this?
I scooted to the side, wanting another look at the window. It looked like it would demolish my debit card.
"Spite can land you in difficult situations." The man spoke again, making me lift my head.
He looked like he was in his early thirties. Long dark hair, straight nose, sharp jaw. He spoke calmly, his voice sounding like rippling water. Smooth yet edged.
"I was just frustrated," I replied.
"Carelessly." He deadpanned, running his index finger along the cracked edge of the glass.
"My rides kept getting cancelled. It's the dead of night, and I can't get back home. You can't blame me for feeling desperate and a tiny bit spiteful when yet another car won't stop."
"Usually, most people return to the nearest town and find somewhere to stay the night." He said, sparing me a glance as he slipped his hands into his pockets. "Normal people, at least."
Normal people? What is he implying?
I scoff lightly.
"Well, I am normal contrary to what you think. And I would've gone back, but I have important work in the morning. I don't plan on spending the night our here. Besides, this entire place is creepy. Snow everywhere, and some wounded animal keeps howling in the forest."
On cue, the howling comes again, more shrill and defined.
"Hear that?" I said, and both our heads turn towards the forest.
"How long have you been standing here?" He asked.
"Here? Maybe thirty minutes. But I was in the park waiting for rides for at least an hour before that. An hour and a half total. Why?"
He doesn't answer right away. Instead, he slowly pulled his arm from his pocket and pressed something in it, which I realise is his car key when the car beeps.
"Get in." He says, and I blinked in confusion.
"What?"
"Get in the car, now." That was more of a command than a request, his eyes fixed on the forest.
"What's going on?" I ask, rising on my toes to peer into the trees. "Is there something—"
"Do you believe in lycanthropy?" He suddenly asks, making my heels drop.
"What?"
"Werewolves. Have you ever encountered one?" His voice remains unnervingly calm.
My heart hammered as I inched towards the back door.
"Is that what you think that is?" I ask, but he responded with another question.
"Do you think you'll have time to ask any more questions when your pretty little mouth is ripped off by a pair of dirt-soaked claws?"
That did it. I yanked open the back door and threw myself inside faster than I grab the last bag of chips at the store. I turned to look at the man through the rear window. He was still staring into the woods with a hard, unreadable expression.
After what felt like hours but was only a few minutes, he walked over and got in.
"Up front?" He says.
"What?"
"Come. Up. Front." He repeated each word like he was addressing a toddler, irritation creeping into his tone.
"Please tell me we're not about to encounter a wild beast," I said climbing into the passenger seat as I heard the doors lock from within.
The ignition turned on. I fastened my seatbelt, glancing nervously out the window towards the woods. Whatever was in there howled again, and it sounded closer.
"I must be your lucky charm," the man muttered, grabbing the sleek steering wheel. "You have no idea." He added before slamming on the pedal lurching us forward.
Over the roar of the engine, the howling came again, louder, closer. Like it was chasing us.
But I kept my eyes on my now trembling hands folded in my lap.
Whatever was lurking in those woods had been waiting. Bear? Mountain lion?
...Wolf?